John Ivanko

Sometimes less of a high-quality thing beats heaps of average. Take cheese, for example. For our farmstead feasts, we’ve learned to focus on using local, high-quality, European-style or artisanal cheeses.

“It seemed obvious,” Scott Lynch says with a grin when asked why he and his family started La Fortuna Pizza, a mobile wood-fired pizza business based in Madison, Wis., that features local ingredients. But Scott’s not trying to be coy: “We have a passion for local food, love to cook and find a deep satisfaction in making people happy. Pizza brings these all together.”

There’s nothing more enticing to the eye, nose and palate than eggs Benedict, especially when made with a couple slices of Canadian bacon and poached farm-fresh eggs with their nutrient-rich orange yolks. It’s a work of art on the farm-breakfast plate.

When we say we’re farmstead chefs, it means we operate from a kitchen that looks out onto a farmyard, not from a stainless-steel commercial kitchen with a cacophony of cooking gear and a fancy set of matching knives. We’re first to admit, we don’t even own a chef’s knife.